News release
Dig Deep Theatre is scheduled to present a special one-night-only benefit reading of Clare Barron’s Obie-winning play “You Got Older” on Saturday at 8 p.m. at California Institute of the Arts.
The reading will be presented in CalArts’ A404 Black & White Studio inside the CalArts Main Building (24700 McBean Parkway), said news releases from Dig Deep and the city of Santa Clarita.
The event is “pay-what-you-can,” with proceeds going toward replacing the costumes, props and equipment destroyed in the fire that consumed The Main in Old Town Newhall on Aug. 24, the releases said.
Pay-what-you-can tickets can be purchased at DigDeepTheatre.com.
Dig Deep’s staged production of “You Got Older,” the first performances of this acclaimed play in Santa Clarita, opened at The Main the weekend before the fire, on Aug. 21. With five performances remaining, the production ended abruptly when the fire destroyed the theater and everything the cast and crew had stored inside.
“For more than 25 years, The Main, formerly the Repertory East Playhouse, was one of the few affordable, accessible venues in Santa Clarita built specifically to support local theater artists,” Shawnee Badger, of the nonprofit Dig Deep Theatre, said in the release. “It was not only home to Dig Deep Theatre’s productions, but to countless other arts organizations, performers and artists across the Santa Clarita Valley. Its loss is being felt throughout the region’s creative community.”
The Saturday reading will feature the members of the original cast, which includes Badger, Bill A. Jones, Kyle Sparks, Ryan Shrewsbury, Lauren Miscioscia, Dakota Klein and Sam Jones, under the direction of Renato Biribin.
“You Got Older” follows 32-year-old Mae, who moves home to care for her father as he battles cancer. As her childhood house becomes both a refuge and a trap, Mae is forced to confront her own body, her relationships and her place in the limbo between the life she has and the one she thought she’d have.
The play enjoyed a staged reading in 2025 at Huron Station Playhouse in Cypress Park and recently completed a Drama Desk-nominated revival at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City.
Those wishing to support the company’s recovery efforts can also contribute directly at gofund.me/529731998.
